After escaping LSU with an overtime win, Alabama moved one spot up the Amway Coaches Poll this week to become the top one-loss team in the country according to the coaches. No. 3 Alabama finished behind No. 1 Mississippi State (41 first-place votes) and No. 2 Florida State (20 first-place votes) and finished just ahead of No. 4 Oregon (one first-place vote). Alabama did not receive any first-place votes.
Big 12 leaders TCU (No. 5) and Baylor (No. 6) each moved up in this week’s poll after wins against ranked Big 12 opponents. No. 7 Ohio State also cracked the top 10 this week following Saturday night’s road win at Michigan State. Baylor and Ohio State each moved up four spots in the poll this week. No. 8 Arizona State also moved up four spots following a solid victory over Notre Dame. No. 9 Auburn dropped six spot sin the coaches poll following a home loss to unranked Texas A&M. Auburn is the highest-ranked two-loss team in the coaches poll. No. 10 Ole Miss moved up three spots following a win at home against an FCS opponent to wrap up the top ten.
No. 11 Nebraska was idle this week but took advantage of No. 12 Michigan State and No. 13 Kansas State falling a few spots this week. No. 14 Georgia moved up three spots following a dominating performance at Kentucky. Georgia might get a chance to move into the top 10 with a home game against Auburn coming up this week. No. 15 UCLA moved up three spots this week and finished ahead of No. 16 Notre Dame. The Irish took the biggest fall in the coaches poll after losing at Arizona State. Both of Notre Dame’s losses have come on the road against teams currently ranked in the top 10, but the Irish lack any true signature victories of note. No. 17 Clemson, No. 18 Arizona and No. 19 Duke all moved up in this week’s poll as No. 20 LSU fell five spots following the home loss to Alabama.
No. 21 Marshall checks in just outside the top 20 after moving up one spot in the coaches poll this week. We will find out Tuesday if they have impressed enough College Football Playoff selection committee members to appear in the top 25 playoff ranking. It is also worth noting Colorado State debuted in the coaches poll at No. 25 this week. Colorado State still needs Boise State to lose in order to qualify for a chance to be selected for the Group of Five access bowl, but the Rams are gaining some national respect. No. 22 Wisconsin, No. 23 Georgia Tech and No. 24 Oklahoma are in between Marshall and Colorado State.
Utah and West Virginia dropped out of the poll this week. Missouri is the team with the most votes among others receiving votes this week.
